Funding is limited, so students should apply for admission to NIU and file a FAFSA or Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid by the priority deadline of February 1.
AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge
Our Huskie Pledge Grant is funded by the state of Illinois’ AIM HIGH Program and is open to freshmen who earned a cumulative 3.0 grade point average or better in high school and will be starting at NIU the fall immediately following their high school graduation. For students who meet all eligibility requirements, the aid program helps completely cover first-year tuition and general fees. NIU’s full cost of attendance includes charges in addition to tuition and general fees.
How It Works
To determine the amount of your Huskie Pledge Grant, we'll look at your initial NIU, federal and state aid which includes:
- Federal Pell and supplemental grants.
- Illinois Monetary Award Program (MAP) grants.
- Merit scholarships.
If your initial grants and scholarships do not cover the full amount of your tuition and general fees, a Huskie Pledge Grant will be issued to ensure that your gift aid equals or exceeds NIU’s annual tuition and general fees. If your initial grants and scholarships already cover your entire tuition and fees, no additional award titled "Huskie Pledge" will appear on your financial aid offer.
Eligibility Requirements
To be eligible for an AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant, you must:
- Be an Illinois resident (as defined by current Illinois law).
- Be a graduate of an Illinois high school during the 2026-2027 school year.
- Have a cumulative 3.0 high school GPA or higher.
- Be a full-time (12 hours per semester) incoming freshman at NIU in the fall of 2027.
- Apply for admission to NIU and file a FAFSA or the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid by the priority deadline of February 1. Huskie Pledge Grants will continue to be awarded after the priority deadline as long as funds remain available.
- Meet the Illinois residency requirements based on the student's dependency status.
- Have a family adjusted gross income at or below $115,000. This information will be collected on the 2027-28 FAFSA or Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid using the 2025 tax year.
- Have family assets of $115,000 or less, as defined by the FAFSA. (Home equity and the value of retirement accounts are not considered.)
- Meet all criteria as outlined by the State of Illinois AIM HIGH program.
How to Apply
Students are automatically considered when they apply to NIU and submit their FAFSA or Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid by the priority deadline of February 1. AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grants will continue to be awarded after the priority deadline as long as funds remain available.
Renewal Criteria
Huskie Pledge Grant recipients who maintain at least an NIU cumulative 2.5 GPA and meet all other eligibility criteria will be eligible for the same Huskie Pledge Grant amount received during their initial year of NIU enrollment. It will be renewable until they have earned 135 credit hours or a degree. The renewability of this scholarship is contingent on future state appropriation and funding for the AIM HIGH program.
Examples
The following are examples that help show how our Huskie Pledge program works.
Freshman Student One
This student meets AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge eligibility requirements. The student receives various types of aid, but it’s not enough to meet the full expense of first-year tuition and general fees. A Huskie Pledge Grant is issued to ensure that all gift aid equals or exceeds the cost of NIU’s annual tuition and general fees. The Huskie Pledge Grant amount is potentially renewable annually if the student continues to meet program requirements.
| Example | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual Tuition and General Fees | ($14,200) |
| NIU Merit Scholarship | $6,000 |
| MAP Grant | $1,800 |
| AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant | $6,400 |
| Remaining Tuition and General Fees Balance | $0 |
Freshman Student Two
This student meets AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge eligibility requirements. However, other traditional types of gift aid already cover the full expense of tuition and general fees, so an additional Huskie Pledge Grant will not be applied to the financial aid offer.
| Example | Amount |
|---|---|
| Annual Tuition and General Fees | ($14,200) |
| NIU Merit Scholarship | $1,000 |
| Pell Grant | $7,395 |
| MAP Grant | $8,064 |
| AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant | $0 |
| Remaining Tuition and General Fees Balance | $0 |
Frequently Asked Questions
-
- Be an Illinois resident. (See definition of Illinois resident for undocumented students)
- Be a graduate of an Illinois high school during the 2025-26 school year.
- Have a cumulative 3.0 high school GPA or higher.
- Be a full-time (12 hours per semester) incoming freshman at NIU in the fall of 2025.
- Apply for admission to NIU and file a FAFSA or the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid by the priority deadline of February 1.
- Have a parent who is an Illinois resident listed on your FAFSA or Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid.
- Have a family adjusted gross income at or below $115,000. This information will be collected on the 2027-28 FAFSA or Alternative Application, using the 2025 tax year.
- Have family assets of $115,000 or less, as defined by the FAFSA or Alternative Application. (Home equity and the value of retirement accounts are not considered.)
- Meet all criteria as outlined by the State of Illinois AIM HIGH program.
Please visit the Illinois Student Assistance Commission to verify the availability of the Alternative Application and related eligibility requirements.
AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant amounts will vary, depending on your other financial aid. The Huskie Pledge program was created to assist qualifying students by ensuring that grants and scholarships will at least equal tuition and general fees for their first year.
First, your eligibility for state and federal need-based grants is determined. If the combination of these grants together with previously awarded NIU merit scholarships does not equal tuition and fees, the difference will be awarded as an AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant.
If eligibility criteria continue to be met, the AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant is renewable, although the grant amount remains the same. The grant amount is not recalculated annually and total aid may not cover tuition and general fees in future terms.
The full cost of fall and spring full-time tuition and general fees. This includes differential tuition.
Summer tuition and fees, student health insurance, study abroad fees, course material fees, parking permits, housing and dining charges, fines, bookstore charges and indirect costs such as transportation and supplies.
However, you may have other types of financial aid that can cover other charges (except fines).
For 2027-2028, your AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant eligibility is determined by family adjusted gross income (AGI). The AGI reported on the FAFSA for both you and your parent(s) is combined. If that sum is $115,000 or less, you meet the income criteria. Your initial eligibility will be based on the 2027-2028 FAFSA, which uses 2025 income information.
You and, if dependent by federal financial aid regulations, your parent(s) will report certain assets on the FAFSA. Home equity and the value of retirement accounts, two of the most common parent assets, are not reported. We will add reported assets from you and your parents; if the sum is $115,000 of less, you meet the asset criteria.
No, this financial aid program is only available to first-time, incoming freshmen. Current students are encouraged to apply for other forms of financial aid and scholarships, and transfer students may be considered for the NIU AIM HIGH Transfer Achievement Award.
If you received the AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant in a previous year, you can qualify to renew it until 135 credit hours have been earned or the first NIU degree has been completed.
See the Huskie Pledge renewal criteria.
If enrollment and university GPA criteria continue to be met, the same AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant amount received during the initial year of NIU enrollment will be renewable until 135 credit hours have been earned or the first NIU degree has been completed.
This means we will not reduce the Huskie Pledge amount if you later receive private scholarships or other NIU scholarships, or if your household income changes. Likewise, the AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge will not increase if other grants or scholarships decrease. We will only reduce the Huskie Pledge amount if you subsequently receive a waiver or grant through Illinois programs such as the Illinois Special Education Teacher Tuition Waiver and the Illinois Veterans Grant or from programs such as DORs, WIOA and DCFS that cover tuition and general fees.
All other grants and scholarships awarded to freshman students are re-determined each year based on the individual program’s eligibility criteria and funding. For this reason, we cannot guarantee your full tuition and general fees will be covered beyond your freshman year. However, state and federal need-based grants generally remain constant or increase through four years, if family income and size remain constant. If your grants and scholarships increase, your locked-in AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge Grant funding stays the same, and any excess can be used for books, housing or other expenses.
Yes. The AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge grant is based upon the calculations in your initial application for financial aid. Any amount awarded will not change if your family income later increases.
You will be notified in your financial aid offer letter. Offers will be emailed to students who have been admitted to NIU and have completed the financial aid application process.
If you receive an athletic scholarship from NIU or are a non-scholarship roster athlete, your eligibility for all institutional aid must be determined by NCAA rules that supersede other NIU grants and scholarships.
No, but you may have other aid options. NIU merit scholarships awarded at the time of admission are renewable for four years. Filing the FAFSA each year will ensure you continue to be considered for the federal Pell Grant and the Illinois State Monetary Award Program (MAP) each year. And, NIU has hundreds of scholarships you may apply for each year.
Contact the Financial Aid and Scholarship Office at 815-753-1395 or finaid@niu.edu with questions about the AIM HIGH Huskie Pledge.